To the townships above enumerated as forming
the parish of Lancaster there have sometimes been
added Simonswood and Toxteth Park, near Liverpool, (fn. 3) for these were parts of the forest of Lancaster
and therefore theoretically within the parish just as
were Fulwood, Myerscough, Bleasdale and the
southern half of Over Wyresdale. While the parish
received this wide extension for civil reasons the
chapelries of Gressingham, Stalmine and probably
Caton were added to it through the donation of
their churches or chapels to Lancaster Priory; and
it may be observed that in later times, while Lancaster and Stalmine were in the deanery of Amounderness, Caton and Gressingham were in that of
Lonsdale. It is possible on the other hand that
Cockerham was once in this parish, the intervening
township of Thurnham being divided between the
two.

The eastern portion of the parish, including
Caton, Gressingham and the forest, is hilly, and the
fells dividing Quernmore and Caton on the north
from Over Wyresdale on the south and parting the
valleys of the Lune and Wyre contain the highest
land in the main portion of the county, attaining
1,836 ft. above sea level at Ward's Stone; this is a
little higher than Pendle. The western or lowland
portion of the parish is bisected by the Lune; the
north-western half, known in part as the Little
Fylde, is flat and lies low, while the south-eastern
half, though it has some marshy land, stands higher.
There are two boroughs, the ancient one of Lancaster now extending into Scotforth, Bulk and
Skerton, and the modern one of Morecambe. The
population in 1901 numbered 60,019; this includes
that of the whole of Thurnham (540) and that of
Bleasdale also (403), but not that of the various
detached parts. The total area is 70,540 acres, of
which 18,098½ acres are in Amounderness.

Considering its position on one of the great roads
to the north—that through the more level country
bordering the Irish Sea—the history of the parish
is surprisingly obscure. Such as it is it is almost
entirely connected with the town of Lancaster, for
the hill country to the east was utilized by the Norman
lords for a forest, and so has practically no story, the
Little Fylde was out of the main track, Aldcliffe and
Bulk were in ecclesiastical hands, and the other
townships of Skerton, Scotforth and Ashton were
closely associated with the town.

From the remains which have been discovered it is
certain that there was about the end of the first
century a Roman settlement or military station at
Lancaster, (fn. 4) but its name is unknown. (fn. 5) The choice
was probably determined by the defensible bluff
rising in a bend of the Lune at a point where the
river was still tidal and navigable and yet fordable at
low water. Though several miles from the great
Roman road through Over Burrow the station was
of some importance; a fort was built upon the
Castle Hill, and what seems a fragment of the wall,
formerly called Wery Wall, remains on the northeast slope, near Bridge Lane. (fn. 6) The ancient crosses
found by the church, place-names, and traces of
defence works show the introduction of Christianity
and English settlement during the 7th century. It
is alleged that there was
a mint at Lancaster during
the reign of Harold I
(1035–40), for coins have
been recorded with the name
lac, landc, and lancs. (fn. 7)
Nothing further is known till
the meagre record of Domesday, which shows that,
although there was a church
at Lancaster, (fn. 8) the manor like
a large part of the parish was
merely a member of the great
lordship of Halton held in
1066 by Earl Tostig, (fn. 9) the
brother of Harold, who was
killed at Stamford Bridge
in that year. Count Roger of Poitou, on receiving
the district from William the Conqueror or his son,judged Lancaster the proper place to be the seat of
his lordship; there he built his castle, (fn. 10) the keep
going back to his time, and in the adjacent church,
by his grant of it to the abbey of St. Martin of Sées,
he procured the establishment of a small body of
monks so that the worship of God might be maintained in due state and regularity. Probably it was
Count Roger who made a borough there, and the
monks who set up the school.

Lancaster of Kendal and Wyresdale. Argent two bars gules, on a canton of the second a lion passant guardant or.

Soon afterwards, perhaps even from Roger's own
day, there was an 'honour of Lancaster' held by
him and then by the king or a near relative, and a
county was formed giving in course of time the title
of earl and duke and receiving palatine jurisdictions. (fn. 11)
A great family, lords of Kendal and Wyresdale, took
their surname from the town. (fn. 12) Ecclesiastically, as
stated already, Lancaster was for a time the head of
a deanery in the archdeaconry of Richmond and
diocese of York.

LANCASTER CASTLE is finely situated on the
west side of the town on the summit of a steep
isolated hill round which the River Lune sweeps in
a curve about a quarter of a mile to the north. The
site has been already described in the section on
Ancient Earthworks, (fn. 13) the mediaeval building having
replaced an earlier mount and court earthwork castle
with timber palisading, the plan of which is still
recognizable. 'Tradition' has attributed some portions of the masonry of the building to the Roman
period, but this has no doubt arisen from the Norman
fortress being erected partly on the site of a former
Roman castrum. (fn. 14) Probably by the time the
earthwork castle was constructed the Roman station
had fallen into ruin. The evidence of the trenches goes
to show that no portion of the Roman work was
incorporated in the Saxon fortress, and by the time
the Norman building was erected it is probable that
nearly if not quite all traces of the Roman masonry
had disappeared from the site. The Norman keep
occupies the position of the Saxon mount and was
erected by Roger of Poitou some time before 1102,
being probably the only portion of the Norman
structure then built in stone. The moats and fosses
were constructed c. 1209, and to this period the
work in the south-west tower, known as Adrian's
Tower, corresponds, together with what remains of
the curtain wall stretching between it and the keep,
so that it seems probable a great deal of building was
done about this date, the keep being supplemented by
a range of buildings running southward from its
south-west angle and standing in front of it, with a
round tower at each end. There is evidence, too, of
transitional work in the round staircase turret of the
great south-east gateway, and probably also in the
vault below the Well Tower north of it, indicating
that the castle of the beginning of the 13th century
occupied approximately the area which it covered
during the later middle age period and down to
modern times before the great additions made at the
end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century.

LANCASTER HEYSHAM CLAUGHTON

The mediaeval castle covered an irregular area
measuring about 380 ft. from west to east by about
350 ft. from north to south, the keep and the later
buildings south of it occupying the west side and the
gateway the lowest point of the site, at the south-east
corner, facing the town. Directly north of the gateway, and connected with it by a short curtain wall,
was a square tower, known as the Well Tower,
and a second square tower called the Dungeon
Tower stood on the south side of the courtyard
midway between the gateway and Adrian's Tower on
the south-west corner. Between the towers and the
gateway the courtyard was inclosed by straight
curtain walls on the south and east and by a longer
curtain on the north, irregular on plan, the three
parts of the wall running at obtuse angles, carrying
the line of the fortification beyond the face of the
keep on that side. At one of the angles of this
curtain there was a circular flanking tower, the
foundations of which were discovered in excavating
for the erection of the prison building at the end of
the 18th century.

All that now remains of the mediaeval building is
the keep, sometimes called the Lungess Tower, the
round south-west tower known as Adrian's, the gateway, and the square tower north of it known as the
Well Tower. The building south of the keep
inclosing the west side of the courtyard, together with
the square tower on the south side known as the
Dungeon Tower, and all the original curtain walls,
have disappeared. The greater part of the gateway
and Well Tower are of early 15th-century date,
probably replacing older structures on the same site,
as shown by the traces of older work, already mentioned, in the gateway. The Dungeon Tower seems
to have been of the same date, and everything points
to considerable rebuilding of the castle in the early
years of the reign of Henry IV, the structure having
suffered from invasions of the Scots in the 14th century. The gateway was probably rebuilt on the
foundations of an older gatehouse of the reign of
King John, and the upper portions of the Well Tower
and Dungeon Tower had been so far destroyed that
their almost complete reconstruction probably became
necessary about the same time. (fn. 15)

In 1645, after the castle had sustained more than
one Royalist attack, Parliament ordered that ' all the
walls about it should be thrown down, only the
gatehouse, the buildings upon the south and west,
with the towers,' being retained. The order, however, does not appear to have been very effectually
carried out, for the building must still have remained
a fortress of considerable strength, as it was successfully held for the Parliament against Sir Thomas
Tyldesley in 1648. (fn. 16) In June 1649, however, the
Parliament gave further orders that the castle should
be demolished 'except such parts thereof as are
necessary for the sitting of the Courts of Justice and
for the keepe of the common gaol of the county' (fn. 17);
and more than eighteen months after, in 1651, the
Council of State sent three officers to view the castle
'to see whether it be so far demolished as to be
untenable according to former order.' (fn. 18) After the
Restoration, however, in 1663, the high sheriff and
justices of the peace petitioned the king to see the
castle 'repaired as formerly,' the building being
described as consisting heretofore of 'several strong
and stately towers and lines,' but the lines had been
'demolished in the late unhappy wars and the roofs
of the towers and lodgings of officers are fallen into
decay and the records in danger of spoil.' (fn. 19) Orders
accordingly were issued (fn. 20) for a survey of the fabric
and 'all the decays and ruins thereof,' and an
estimate of the charges required for the repairs,
which amounted in all to £1,957, was returned on
12 January 1663–4. (fn. 21)

Plan of Lancaster Castle

The repairs then effected seem to have subsisted
down to the end of the 18th century, (fn. 22) but in 1788,
in consequence of a general Act of Parliament for
improving prisons, Lancaster Castle was directed to
be altered and enlarged, and an amount of rebuilding
was then begun which materially altered the plan
and appearance of the fabric. The Governor's House,
which filled up the whole of the space between the
gateway and the Well Tower, was first erected, after
which, in 1793, the female felons' prison, extending
from the south side of the gateway to the Dungeon
Tower, was completed, the Dungeon Tower being
still left standing. The building of the male felons'
prison on the north side of the court followed,
necessitating the destruction of the curtain wall. This
range of buildings, which was carried further northward than the original extent of the castle over the
site of the moat, joining the Lungess Tower at its
north-west angle, includes two towers each four
stories high, with other necessary accommodation,
and four radiating courts, the whole inclosed by a
high boundary wall. The new Crown Hall was
erected in 1796 on the west side of the Lungess
Tower, terminating at its north end with a round
tower containing the grand jury room, all this being
to the north of the ancient line of buildings inclosing
the west side of the courtyard and containing the old
Crown Hall. The County or Shire Hall—the
large semi-polygonal Gothic building which is such a
prominent feature in all external views of Lancaster
Castle from the west side—was erected in 1798, and
the additions were completed by an arcade, or
covered promenade for debtors, in front of the old
Crown Hall within the castle yard, with rooms for
debtors over it. (fn. 23) The Dungeon Tower stood till
1818, when it was taken down to make way for a
female penitentiary, which was erected between the
female felons' building and Adrian's Tower in
1818–21. Alterations were carried out in the castle
in 1889–90, and again in 1892–3 (more particularly
in Adrian's Tower), at both of which periods discoveries of considerable architectural and antiquarian
interest, hereafter referred to, were made.

The Keep, or Lungess Tower, is a square of nearly
80 ft. externally, with walls 10 ft. thick of characteristic Norman masonry, the stones being short and
set with wide joints. (fn. 24) On each face are three flat
buttresses, one at each end and one in the middle of
the wall. The tower consists of three stories and is
70 ft. in height, but the upper story is said to have
been added in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is
most likely, however, a rebuilding of formerly existing
work, some of which probably yet remains. The
date 1585 with the initials E.R. and those of Richard
Assheton (high sheriff in 1586, when probably the
work was completed) are on the battlements on the
north side. The Elizabethan work included also
the insertion of two large square windows of three
transomed lights on the south side. The tower is
divided its full height by a central wall running
from west to east, and the original entrance was at
the first floor level by an external flight of steps on
the south side. On the north side the first floor has
been removed, the two lower stories being thrown
into one, now used as a chapel. 'Some of the rear
arches of the ancient windows remain, of which two,
facing east, on each original floor remain open, being
plain round-headed ones with a shaft on each side.' (fn. 25)
The lower story on the south side was used till 1816
as the County Lunatic Asylum. The south-west
corner contains a vice, and is surmounted by an embattled turret rising 10 ft. above the parapet of the
keep, usually known as John o'Gaunt's Chair, but
probably an addition of the 15th century. The
northern half of the keep was unroofed after the
Civil War and remained a ruin until the end of the
18th century. (fn. 26)

The Great Hall lay to the south-west of the keep,
connected with it by a short length of wall, and was
50 ft. by 25 ft. internally and divided into six bays.
The hall does not appear to have occupied the whole
extent of the building on the west side of the court
between the two round towers, its north end being
apparently occupied by a smaller apartment between
the hall and the tower. The hall was used as the
Crown Court before the erection of the new buildings
in 1796–8, but the alterations then and afterwards
made have almost destroyed all its original features.
It has been divided into two, and the old external
west wall is hidden within the modern buildings
and disfigured with large modern windows. (fn. 27) The
basement consisted of six transverse cellars with barrel
vaults, one of which at the south end yet remains,
having been excavated in recent years. 'The end
walls of the vault are built up against the curtain, not
jointed into it, the inner face of the curtain running
unbroken behind the later masonry.' (fn. 28) These vaults
seem to have been used, one as a passage to Adrian's
Tower and the rest as prisons in the 18th century. (fn. 29)
The north circular tower, the site of which is approximately covered by the new Crown Hall, appears to
have been attached to the north-west angle of the
range of buildings, at some little distance from the
west wall of the keep.

Adrian's Tower, however, at the south end of the
western range of buildings, abuts on the full length
of the south wall of the Great Hall, projecting but
slightly in front of it on the west side. It is distant
from the keep about 70 ft., and consists of two stories.
The whole of the exterior was encased in ashlar at
the end of the 18th century, in the Gothic style
employed in the other new buildings with large blank
pointed windows which do not correspond with the
floors. Old views, however, show the walls originally
battering and the tower terminating in an embattled
parapet carried on corbels. The interior of the lower
story is of ashlar masonry in regular courses, but in
the upper part the walling is rougher, irregularly
coursed, and the stones, except those for doors and
window rear arches, are roughly dressed, as if intended
originally to have been covered with plaster. (fn. 30) The
original entrance was on the north side from a passage
under the Great Hall, and on each side of the door, in
the thickness of the wall, is a vice leading to the roof
and curtain walls. The eastern one seems to have
been built up with solid masonry at a time not very
long after its construction, as on its discovery in
1892–3 the masonry was found to be as fresh and the
masons' marks as clear as when first built. The lower
room had two loopholes commanding the south
curtain wall and the external west wall of the hall, the
rear arches of which remain. The southern loophole
opens from a little watching chamber in the thickness
of the wall. In 1810 the upper story was made into
a record room, and was so used till the end of the
last century. During the alterations of 1892–3, however, when the tower was converted into a museum,
the floor was taken out and a circular gallery erected.
The plaster was at the same time removed from the
upper part of the walls, revealing the rougher masonry,
and the soil and rubbish with which the ground floor
had been filled up to a height of some 5 ft. or 6 ft.
was cleared out. (fn. 31) When the excavations were made
two large stones with sockets were found below the
floor level in the centre of the tower. (fn. 32) There is a
tradition that a horse-mill was used in this tower by
the Romans and continued in use down to late
mediaeval times. (fn. 33) The tooling of these stones is
different from that in the rest of the building and
may be Roman work, and it is possible that the stones
are the remains of a mill, but whether in its original
position or not cannot be stated. It may have been
brought here from some ruined villa and the tower
fitted to contain it. (fn. 34) Probably the tower came to
be used in late mediaeval times as a kitchen or
bakery, its proximity to the hall rendering such an
arrangement likely. In the upper part are four wide
arches in the thickness of the wall, one being the
entrance door. 'The second led into a chamber
running eastwards at the end of the hall; the third
formerly opened to a gallery in the south curtain
wall, but was, a little later, made into a large fireplace.
The fourth arch leads to the second staircase by which
the summit of the tower is reached.' (fn. 35) The inner
order of the second arch is carried on corbelled shafts
with moulded capitals of transition character, a further
indication of the date of the tower as c. 1200.

From Adrian's Tower two fragments of the ancient
curtain wall extend towards the east and north.
The eastern one, which originally joined the Dungeon
Tower, is now covered up by modern work, but old
drawings show it to have had an embattled parapet
both on its inner and outer face. Of the other
fragment there exists a short length in its original
state with a corbelled parapet, probably of the same
date as the tower, but the rest of the wall is much
defaced by modern openings and alteration. (fn. 36)

The Dungeon Tower stood about 75 ft. to the
east of Adrian's Tower, and was a rectangular structure
of two stories, 35 ft. by 30 ft. externally, the greater
length being from west to east. It was not quite
parallel with the curtain, and from the evidence of
old drawings seems to have dated from the early part
of the 15th century, having apparently been erected
at the time the gatehouse was rebuilt. The floor
was of singular construction, ' being of long stones
set on end, about 4 ft. long and 6 in. to 8 in. square,
clamped together with iron.' (fn. 37) This solid filling
may have been to counteract attack by mining.
Between the tower and the moat there projected a
stone platform, like a low square bastion, which
would also serve the same purpose. (fn. 38)

The gateway, which lay about 90 ft. to the east
of the Dungeon Tower, is a picturesque structure of
three stories, consisting of two semi-octagonal towers
with machicolations and embattled parapets flanking
a wide four-centred arched opening. The total width
of the structure is 65 ft., the towers being each 25 ft.
and the entrance 15 ft. wide. The depth is about
52 ft. from the front of the towers, and the walls
are 9 ft. thick. The lower story of each tower is
occupied by a guard-room commanding the approach
to the castle on all sides by loopholes, originally
cruciform in shape but now altered, in each face of
the wall. The upper floor is divided into three
rooms of about equal size and very lofty, but scantily
lighted by small square-headed openings facing east.
'The middle room was a chapel, but has no ornament
beyond an arch in the wall at the east end.' (fn. 39) Like
the other rooms it is quite bare, but all retain their
original ceilings, which have massively framed oak
beams carried on stone corbels. Above the roof,
which is flat and leaded, rise four square embattled
turrets, two at the rear of each of the towers, the
height to the top of the parapets of which is 66 ft.
The evidence of the approximate date of the rebuilding of the gatehouse, apart from that of the architecture itself, lies in two shields over the gateway
bearing the arms of France (modern) quartering
England, that on the north side having also a label
of three points, and being presumably the shield of
King Henry V when Prince of Wales (fn. 40); but portions
of the structure, as already stated, are of early
13th-century date. These are the inner pointed
archway and part of the vaulted passage, where the
junction of the earlier and later work is very noticeable. The cross ribs of the vault are carried on
corbels, the undersides of which are rounded and
ornamented with foliage in low relief. The corbels
are continued up the wall as short round shafts, but
the original capitals have disappeared, and their place
is occupied by large octagonal ones of early 15thcentury date wrought in stone, corresponding to the
vaulting ribs. The outer archway is of two moulded
orders with hood mould, and above it, between the
shields, is a niche occupied by a modern statue of
John of Gaunt placed there in 1822. The groove
for the portcullis may still be seen, but the old oak
doors were replaced by new ones about 1813, an
inner iron gate having been previously erected. On
the south side facing the courtyard a vice in the
thickness of the wall leads to the upper rooms. The
iron vane on the north turret is dated 1688; it was
restored in 1830.

The Well Tower, which is about 75 ft. to the
north of the gatehouse, measures externally 40 ft. by
30 ft., the greater dimensions being from north to
south. It derives its name from the existence within,
at the north-west corner, of a deep well. The tower
is two stories in height, the ground floor consisting
of a vault below which, reached by a long flight of
rough steps, is a lower vault, without light or ventilation, rudely arched with unwrought stone set with
wide joints of hard mortar. (fn. 41) The lower part of the
tower appears to be Norman work, but the upper
part is probably of the same date as the gatehouse.
The lower vault, which is popularly ascribed to
Constantius Chlorus (a.d. 309), is slightly pointed,
but it is without architectural features, the fashion of
the masonry being the only evidence of its age. (fn. 42) This
basement room, originally probably meant for storing
purposes, was used in the 17th century as a prison,
the rings and staples in the walls being still in place.

The Crown Hall and County Hall and the other
buildings erected at the end of the 18th century are
architecturally interesting only as early examples of
the Gothic revival, being somewhat ornate in character
and following rather the fashion of Strawberry Hill
than the more restrained local 18th-century Gothic
of the parish church tower (1754). The detail is
generally poor and thin, but has been and is still
greatly admired by popular taste.

The castle, as the residence, real or supposed, of
the lord of the honour, was outside the parish, township and borough, belonging to the county to the
present day. It was no doubt intended to be a safeguard against the Scots, and was a strong prison also. (fn. 43) It is noteworthy that for a short time, 1139 to 1153,
David King of Scots was lord of Lancaster by grant
of King Stephen, and in company with Henry of
Anjou, afterwards Henry II, he visited the place in
1149. (fn. 44) King John stayed there for a few days in
1206, (fn. 45) while at a later time John of Gaunt is known
to have been at Lancaster from 21 to 23 September
1385 and on a few days in the summer of 1393. (fn. 46)
Apart from these incidents there is very little to connect the castle and town with the lords and kings
who had a title from the place. Queen Victoria
once paid it a visit. On 8 October 1851 she made
a pause of two hours on her way from Balmoral
southwards; she saw the castle and received addresses
from the county magistrates and the corporation.

Seal of the Duchy of Lancaster First seal of Henry VIII

The office of constable of the castle (fn. 47) has in recent
times become an honorary one, held for life by one
of the more distinguished gentlemen of the county,
as the following list of the constables of the last
hundred and twenty years will show (fn. 48):—

As the chief town of the county the assizes were
in the mediaeval period regularly held at Lancaster, (fn. 50)
though at times, particularly when there was danger
or plague, the courts were held at Preston. (fn. 51) Charters
were granted, renewed and extended from time to
time, giving privileges of markets and fairs, gild merchant and statute merchant. (fn. 52) The surnames used
in the town show the usual trades; there was a goldsmith in 1330. (fn. 53) On the religious side, in addition
to the priory of monks at the parish church at the
west side of the town, there were at the east side a house
of Black Friars and a leper hospital; later a charitable
gild, that of the Holy Trinity, was founded.

The ancient topography is open to discussion.
The Roman settlement has left traces on the castle
hill and its inner slope, but the later English town,
the Old Lancaster of various charters, seems to have
occupied a site to the east and south-east, where also
Roman remains are stated to have been found.
Domesday Book distinguishes between Lancaster and
Kirk-Lancaster—the latter no doubt lying around
the church—and Leland, repeating a local tradition,
states that Old Lancaster was near the Dominican
Priory (fn. 54) and was deserted only after its destruction
by the Scots. Camden repeats this tradition, and
gives the date as 1322. The Cockersand Chartulary (fn. 55) associates Old Lancaster with Bolron or Bowerham; and it was Ralph de Bolron who granted the
monks of the priory land in the town fields of Old
Lancaster on the north side of the well of Old Lancaster
and following its brook northward to the common
pasture of Lancaster and then going up to Swartmoor. (fn. 56)

The available evidence shows that the mediaeval
town had much the same formation as that recorded
in plans of the 18th century. Then as later the
principal thoroughfares were St. Mary-gate, (fn. 57) now
Church Street, Market-gate or street, (fn. 58) St. Leonardgate, which still retains its old name unaltered, (fn. 59) and
Penny Street, (fn. 60) this last being the only one uniformly
entitled a 'street.' (fn. 61) Penny Stone, which may have
been in or near the street, is named in one of the
priory deeds, William son of Roger de Croft granting
the monks a piece of land extending in one direction
as far as the road to Penny Stone and in the other
towards Deep Carr. (fn. 62) The Fishstones were in St.
Mary-gate, (fn. 63) near which also was Caldkeld, (fn. 64) a name
preserved by Calkeld Lane, a steep passage leading
down from Church Street, at the bottom of which,
to the east, there used to be a well. These 'gates'
or streets were in the 'borough,' for burgages existed
in them; there were also burgages by the castle. (fn. 65) At
a somewhat later time there are named St. Patrick's
Lane, Pudding Lane and St. Nicholas Street, these
occurring in the Cockersand rental of 1451; Chene
(later China) Lane is named in that of 1501. (fn. 66) As
there was a bridge over the Lune, a road to it, the
present Bridge Lane probably, must have existed,
though it is not named. The first mention of the
bridge is in 1215 when the king allowed the Abbot
of Furness to have timber from the forest to repair
the bridge so far as he was liable, (fn. 67) while from 1291
onwards there were various grants of pontage for the
repair and maintenance of this bridge. (fn. 68) Moor
Lane (fn. 69) no doubt led up to the moors where the burgesses had various rights. The Townfields seem to
have bordered the place on the southern side; in
some cases, as Haverbrecks and Edenfield, the positions are known, but in others all traces of the names
have vanished. (fn. 70)

The earlier history of the town has but little connexion with the general history of the country,
though it sent burgesses to the Parliaments from 1295
to 1331. (fn. 71) The Black Friars of Lancaster, who had
settled there about 1260, were in 1291 ordered to
preach the crusade in the town itself, and at the chief
meeting-places in Kendal and Lonsdale. (fn. 72) The port
of Lancaster is mentioned in 1297 and later. (fn. 73)
In 1322 at a Saturday's market Sir Edmund de
Nevill caused proclamation to be made of Earl
Thomas's fatal intention to march against the king;
those willing to take part in the strife were to go for
their wages to the Friars' house, where Sir Edmund
showed the earl's commission. (fn. 74) In the same year
was the devastating raid by the Scots already alluded
to, during which the town was burnt and the surrounding country laid waste. (fn. 75) There were internal
troubles also; thus to the summer fair in 1347 came
a band of evil-doers who maimed and stole and in
various ways ill-treated the townsmen and traders. (fn. 76)
The Black Death visited the district in 1349, and in
a claim for probate fees the Archdeacon of Richmond
alleged that the church of Lancaster had been vacant
between 3 September 1349 and 11 January following,
and that in the parish 3,000 persons had died. The
number in the town itself is not defined. The
figures were no doubt greatly exaggerated, for the
jury allowed less than a fourth of the amount claimed. (fn. 77)
A minor incident may be recorded—an examination
of witnesses in the Scrope-Grosvenor trial as to the
right to bear the bend or; it took place at Lancaster
19 September 1386, and one of those who supported
the Grosvenor claim was a local man, William de
Slene, who said he had seen Sir Robert bearing the
disputed coat in Gascony and at Roche-sur-Yon,
about 1369. (fn. 78)

The priory, as alien, was suppressed in 1415 and
its possessions, like much of the lands of the other
alien priories in this country, were afterwards granted
to the distant abbey of Syon at Isleworth. (fn. 79) The
15th century was probably a period of decay at
Lancaster as elsewhere, but the latter part of it was
distinguished by John Gardiner's endowments for
chantry, almshouses and school.

The fisheries of the Lune led to disputes between
the Abbots of Furness and the Priors of Lancaster
and their tenants. By the foundation charter the
priory had a third of the fishery, and the fishing
rights of the lord of the honour were afterwards given
to the abbey. The rule then was that the abbot
was to have two draws with his net and the prior the
third. The limits extended from Holgill or Howgill,
at the boundary of Halton and Skerton, to Priestwath
or Priesta, now Scale Ford, (fn. 80) and from St. Mary's
Well to Priestwath. There was also a special fishery
in St. Mary's Pot or Pool. (fn. 81) The Abbess of Syon,
who had entered upon possession of the lands of
the late alien prior, in 1460 granted a lease of
her fishery rights to the Abbot of Furness. (fn. 82) A
number of Skerton men were prosecuted by the
abbot in 1476 for trespassing on his fishery, (fn. 83) and in
1482 a summons was issued against certain men who
had captured twelve salmon called 'kepers' in the
Lune at Lancaster. (fn. 84)

Seal of the Borough of Lancaster—1¾ in. in diam. Probably of the time of Henry III

There were at least two 'Lune mills,' one at
Skerton belonging to the Duchy of Lancaster, and
the other in Bulk belonging to the Priory of
Lancaster, and then, after the dissolution of that
house, to Syon Abbey. (fn. 85)

Leland the antiquary, who visited the district
about 1535–40, gives a comparatively full account of
it, as follows:—

From Cockersand Abbey I rode over the sands, marking the
saltcotes, and a mile off over Conder riveret trilling by the
sands to the sea. So to a mean place called Ashton, of the
king's land, where Master Leyburne knight useth to lie, and
from thence a two or three miles to Lancaster. Lancaster
Castle, on a hill, [is] strongly builded and well repaired. Ruins
of an old place (as I remember, of the Catfields) by the Castle
Hill. The New Town, as they there say, [is] builded hard by
in the descent from the castle, having one parish church, where
sometime the priory of monks aliens was put down by king
Henry V and given to Syon Abbey. The old wall of the circuit
of the priory cometh almost to Lune bridge. Some have thereby
supposed that it was a piece of a wall of the town, but indeed I
espied in no place that the town was ever walled. The Old
Town, as they say there, was almost all burned, and stood
partly beyond the Black Friars'; in those parts in the fields and
foundations hath been found much Roman coin. The soil
about Lancaster is very fair, plentiful of wood, pasture, meadow
and corn. (fn. 86)

The religious changes of the 16th century found
the townsmen at first on the side of the Pilgrimage of
Grace. The malcontents came from Kendal to
Lancaster at the end of 1536, after mustering on
Kellet Moor, and induced the mayor and others to
make common cause with them. (fn. 88) The general pardon
was proclaimed on 31 December by Clarenceux,
Sir Marmaduke Tunstall being present, (fn. 89) and about
two months later the Earls of Sussex and Derby
arrived at Lancaster on their punitive expedition.
Doubtless as a warning the Abbot of Whalley, John
Paslew, and one of the monks of Sawley were executed
at Lancaster with all the penalties of high treason on
10 March 1536–7, (fn. 90) and the Abbot of Sawley,
William Trafford, followed in 1537 or 1538; his
crime was that he had retaken possession of his
monastery. (fn. 91) The successive confiscations of the
estates of Syon Abbey, the house of the Black Friars
and the endowments of gild, chantries and hospital
seem to have aroused no opposition, but the townsmen
were able to keep alive the school and Gardiner's
almshouses.

One of the mayors at that time is said to have
been a 'favourer of the gospel,' in the Protestant
sense of the phrase, and to have befriended George
Marsh of Deane while he was for six months or
more confined in the castle in 1554 on a charge
of heresy. (fn. 92) Another Protestant, named Warburton,
was imprisoned with him. Marsh was confined in
'the highest prison.' Many came to see him, some
to encourage, some to argue, as well gentry and
priests as others. The justices threatened him for
'preaching to the people out of the prison,' and for
'praying and reading so loud that the people in the
streets might hear.' He and Warburton said Morning
and Evening Prayer, with the English Litany, and
certain chapters of the Bible every day, and many of
the townspeople in the evenings assembled outside
the castle to hear them. The Bishop of Chester
afterwards censured the gaoler for his favourable
treatment of them, and the schoolmaster and others
for speaking to Marsh. (fn. 93)

The latter part of Elizabeth's reign often found
the castle occupied by prisoners for religion, their
stories providing almost the only heroic episodes in
the history of the little town. Some probably conformed and were released; others died in confinement, like Richard Hatton, a Marian priest, about
1586, (fn. 94) and Richard Blundell of Little Crosby in
1592 (fn. 95); while others were put to death nominally
as traitors, but really, as the whole proceedings
demonstrated, for religion. Those who persevered
met their penalty at the place of execution on the
hill overlooking the town on the east. (fn. 96) The first
to suffer the extreme penalty, and the only one
against whom the charge of treason had any plausibility, was James Leyburne of Cunswick in 1583; he
not only rejected the queen's ecclesiastical supremacy
and the established religion, but denied her right to
the throne both for her illegitimacy and her excommunication by Pius V. He suffered 'with marvellous cheerfulness and gentleness, declaring on the
scaffold that he died for the profession of the Catholic
faith.' His quarters were displayed at Lancaster,
Preston and other towns. (fn. 97) The next victims were
two Lancashire men, James Bell and John Finch,
both in 1584. The former was a Marian priest,
who, after conforming for many years to the Elizabethan changes, was reconciled to the Roman Church
and restored to his priestly office; he was sentenced
for acknowledging the pope's ecclesiastical supremacy
and rejecting the queen's, and, hearing his sentence
with 'great content,' desired the judge to add to it
that his lips and finger tips might be cut off for
'having sworn and subscribed to the articles of
heretics, contrary both to my conscience and to God's
truth.' He was sixty years old and suffered 'with
great joy' on 20 April. (fn. 98) Finch was a layman and
was condemned for the same cause—the acknowledgement of the pope's supremacy in England. (fn. 99) On
26 July 1600 two seminary priests were executed for
their priesthood only, viz. Robert Nutter of Burnley
and Edward Thwing, a Yorkshireman; of the former
it is recorded that he 'rather despised than conquered death,' going to the gallows 'with as much
cheerfulness and joy as if he had been going to a
feast, to the astonishment of the spectators.' For the
same cause two others—one of Douay and the other
of Seville—were executed in March 1601; they were
Thurstan Hunt and Robert Middleton, both Yorkshiremen. (fn. 100) In 1598 the Bishop of Chester seems
to have been much disturbed as to the lightness of
the punishment inflicted upon his religious opponents,
and complained that the recusants in Lancaster
prison had 'liberty to go when and whither they
list to hunt, hawk, and go to horse races at their
pleasure; which notorious abuse of law and justice
should speedily be reformed.' (fn. 101)

In 1597 there was a late instance of an execution
for witchcraft. In this case a man named Edward
Hartley was hanged for bewitching, as it was said,
some members of the Starkie family. (fn. 102)

Sixteenth Century Seal of the Borough of Lancaster 13/8 in. in diam.

The shield with the arms of the town appears to be
suggested by the device on the earlier seal.

Apart from its prominence as the assize town,
Lancaster seems to have been then of little moment
in the county, notwithstanding that its charters were
from time to time renewed.

Camden, writing c. 1600, says: 'The town at this
day is not very well peopled nor much frequented,
and all the inhabitants thereof are given to husbandry,
for the territory all round about is well manured,
lying open, fresh and fair, and not void of woods.' (fn. 103)
The earliest plan is that of Speed, published in 1610.
It shows no perceptible addition to the streets above
recorded. Entering the town from the south the
visitor would see Penny Street before him, with
Aldcliffe Lane leading away west; at this corner
stood the pinfold, while in the centre of the road was
the White Cross. From this point Chennell Lane,
afterwards Back Lane, (fn. 104) led north-west to the castle
and church; it and Penny Street had houses on both
sides for most of their length. (fn. 105) Crossing Penny
Street at right angles, Market Street, on the left, led
up the hill to the castle, with continuations towards
the marsh beyond it. (fn. 106) In the centre of Market
Street stood the cross, on the north side of which the
houses stood back to form the quadrangular marketplace; at the west side of this was the toll booth or
town hall. (fn. 107) Further west Kiln Lane (fn. 108) went across to
Church Street and was continued down to the river
side (fn. 109) to communicate with the bridge over the Lune.

From its junction with Market Street Penny
Street was continued as Butchers' Street (fn. 110) to meet
Church Street, which led up the hill to the church
or down towards Stone Well, (fn. 111) round which there
was an open space. The lower continuation of
Market Street, called St. Nicholas Street, also led to
Stone Well. From this point two roads went east—
Moor Lane, past the site of the Black Friars' House, (fn. 112)
and St. Leonard-gate; while a little brook carried
the overflow of the well down to the mill stream.
Between the mill stream and the Lune was an open
meadow called Green Ayre; the mill itself (fn. 113) stood
opposite the end of Calkeld Lane, which is shown
but not named on the plan. On the south side of
Church Street, near the top, was a house called the
New Hall (fn. 114); higher up was a cross in the centre of
the street and behind it the Old Hall. (fn. 115) The fish
market was at the lower end of Church Street on
the north side. (fn. 116) Some of the old streets were
called wints. Bars were fixed at all the entrances of
the town to facilitate the collection of the tolls or
town dues on traffic. The stocks and whipping post
were placed in the market-place by the toll booth,
and the pillory was near the castle. (fn. 117) The school
stood on the castle hill slope just below the west end
of the church.

Cable Street, Lancaster

The county lay, fixed in 1624 on the basis of the
ancient 'fifteenth,' affords some evidence of the
relative position of the parish, which had to pay
about £23 when £100 was demanded from Lonsdale
Hundred. The separate townships contributed thus:
Lancaster, £6 1s. 8¾d.; Bulk and Aldcliffe together,
£1 12s. 3½d.; Scotforth, £2 4s.; Ashton with
Stodday, £1 10s. 3½d.; Skerton, 6s. 10¾d.; Overton,
£1 4s. 11¼d.; Poulton, Bare and Torrisholme,
£2 9s. 10¾d.; Heaton and Oxcliffe, 15s. 4¾d.;
Middleton, 13s. 2½d.; Gressingham, £1 0s. 9¼d.
The forest districts of Quernmore and Wyresdale
were assessed at £1 13s. 4½d. and £2 10s. 2¾d.
respectively; and Caton was then joined with
Claughton for this tax. (fn. 118)

Nothing is known of the trade of the town at that
time, but there was a Society of Skinners and
Whittawers and Glovers which in 1633 and 1635
complained of breaches of its monopoly by outsiders. (fn. 119)
In 1637 the borough was called upon to pay £30 for
ship-money. (fn. 120)

Returning to the general history of the district, the
reign of James I is noteworthy for a royal progress
through the parish, though the town of Lancaster
does not seem to have been visited. The king on his
way from Scotland to London by Carlisle in 1617
arrived at Hornby, and thence went to Ashton Hall,
where he knighted two gentlemen on 11 August;
the next day or the day after he left for Myerscough. (fn. 121)
During his reign and that of Charles I the executions
for religion and for witchcraft still went on. Lawrence Baily, a Lancashire yeoman, was in 1604
hanged as a felon for aiding a priest who had escaped
from the pursuivants. John Thewlis of Upholland,
a seminary priest, suffered as a traitor in 1616, and
his head was fixed up on the castle walls. (fn. 122) Roger
Wrennall of Kirkham, who had assisted him in an
attempt to escape, was hanged therefor at the same
time.

The great trial of the Lancashire Witches took
place on 17–19 August 1612. Five men and fifteen
women from Pendle Forest were accused; some of
them professed to have had dealings with the devil,
but others asserted their innocence. One of them
died in prison, eight were acquitted, and the rest
found guilty. Of these one was sentenced to the pillory
at Clitheroe and other towns, and the other ten were
hanged on the Moor gallows on 20 August. Their
names were Anne Whittle or Chattox, Elizabeth
Device and her children James (deaf and dumb) and
Alizon, Anne Redfern, Alice Nutter, Katherine
Hewitt or 'Mouldheels,' Jane Bulcock and her son
John, and Isabel Roby. (fn. 123) There were later trials
and executions for the same cause. (fn. 124)

Edmund Arrowsmith, a Jesuit missionary, was
executed for treason on 28 August 1628, after being,
as usual, offered his life if he would conform to the
established religion. 'He was suffered to hang till
he was dead. The last words which were heard out
of his mouth were, Bone Jesu! Being dead he was
cut down, bowelled and quartered. His head was set
upon a stake or pole amongst the pinnacles of the
castle, and his quarters were hanged on four several
places thereof.' (fn. 125) On the following day was hanged
Richard Hurst, a Preston yeoman, nominally for
murder but really for his recusancy. (fn. 126) One of the
most famous victims of the persecution, the saintly
Ambrose Barlow, (fn. 127) suffered at Lancaster on 10 September 1641. He was as usual drawn from the
castle to the place of execution on a hurdle, 'carrying
all the way in his hand a cross of wood which he had
made. When he was come to the place, being taken
off the hurdle he went three times round the gallows,
carrying the cross before his breast and reciting the
penitent psalm Miserere. . . . He suffered with great
constancy according to sentence.' So did three other
Lancashire missionaries on 7 August 1646, under the
Commonwealth, viz. John Woodcock, a Franciscan,
Thomas Whittaker and Edward Bamber, seculars. (fn. 128)
Of them it is related that the sentence was executed
on Woodcock and Bamber in all its ferocity before
the eyes of Whittaker, who was a man naturally
timid and would, it was hoped, renounce his religion
on the offer of his life. These were the last to suffer
expressly for their priesthood, (fn. 129) but others were imprisoned, (fn. 130) sometimes dying in confinement, (fn. 131) and
one at least was executed indirectly for his office. (fn. 132) The
Puritan Henry Burton was confined here in 1637. (fn. 133)

The Civil War brought various troubles to the
town and district. By that time the place seems to
have become distinctly Puritan, and so took the
Parliament's side. At the outbreak of the war the
castle was in the king's hands, and was used as a
prison for some of his opponents. (fn. 134) The Royalists,
however, perhaps relying too much on the support of
the local gentry, did not garrison either castle or
town, and the other side, no doubt on information
from friends in the town, suddenly fell upon it from
Preston, liberating the prisoners and placing Captain
William Shuttleworth in charge. (fn. 135) Some defence
works were raised, and when on Saturday 18 March
1642–3 the Earl of Derby in the king's name summoned the place to surrender he was courageously
refused. After two hours' hot fighting, by attacking
from several sides, the town was captured, Shuttleworth
being slain. The castle, however, held out, and a
siege was begun. On the Monday the earl, hearing
that the Parliamentary troops had left Preston in
order to attack him, slipped away to that town,
ordering Lancaster to be burnt. (fn. 136) All Penny Street
was destroyed, some ninety houses being burnt, and
there was a good deal of plundering. The town's
charters and records suffered from fire. The castle
was attacked by the Royalists again in April and June,
but without result. (fn. 137) On the advance of Prince
Rupert into South Lancashire in 1644 Colonel Rigby
retreated to Lancaster, carrying with him the prisoners
kept at Preston, and Colonel Dodding raised works
for the town's defence. (fn. 138) Rupert, however, did not
come to this part of the county. In 1645 Parliament made an order for the payment of compensation
to the town to the amount of £8,000, to be taken
from the estates of 'Papists and delinquents' when
the war should be ended. (fn. 139)

The townsmen were next to suffer from their
friends, for at the end of 1645 the whole country
round was troubled by a 'rude company of Yorkshire
troopers' appointed to guard the castle for the Parliament. 'They were the cruellest persons that ever
this county was pestered with ... an unmeasurable
torment to the hundreds of Lonsdale and Amounderness,' says the Parliamentarian chronicler. (fn. 140) Hence
it was proposed to destroy the castle, reserving no
more than would suffice for a prison, and the walls of
the quadrangle were actually demolished. (fn. 141) The
order for its destruction was renewed in 1649, (fn. 142) as
related already.

In August 1648 the Duke of Hamilton at the
head of the Scottish Covenanters, now on the king's
side, reached Hornby, and finding that all the
ministers of the district had fled to Lancaster for
safety, sent thither to ask them to return to their
charges, (fn. 143) but without result. The duke marched
through the town and stayed a night at Ashton
Hall, (fn. 144) which was in later years to become the
inheritance of his family. Sir Thomas Tyldesley
laid siege to the castle, though he had to retire north
on hearing of the duke's defeat on 17–19 August. (fn. 145)
Yet another experience of the war came in 1651.
Charles II, as 'King of Scots,' on his march from
Scotland to Worcester reached Lancaster on 12 August
and was proclaimed King of England at the market
cross. He lodged that night at Ashton Hall. (fn. 146)
Some of the inhabitants who had taken sides with
the king, at least in the earlier stages, had to compound for their estates with the Parliament. (fn. 147)

The Restoration does not seem to have affected
the town in any marked degree, though a purging of
the corporation was probably made in October 1661,
when the commission for regulating corporations met
in the town. (fn. 148) The appearance of Nonconformity
may be noticed, but with the exception of the
Quakers Lancashire Dissenters seem to have been left
with little molestation, and the castle was seldom
occupied by them. (fn. 149) George Fox had preached in
the town in 1652 and later, and though roughly
opposed, as usual, had secured a number of adherents. (fn. 150)
He was imprisoned in the castle in 1660 and again
in 1663–5, (fn. 151) and others of the Friends were confined
there, the cause being, in part at least, their refusal
to take any oath of allegiance. (fn. 152) One room is still
known as the Quakers' Room. The heralds in their
visitation of the county came to Lancaster in September 1664. (fn. 153) A number of tradesmen's tokens,
¼d., ½d. and 1d. in value, were issued about that
time. One of them bears the name of John Lawson,
Fox's friend. (fn. 154) The busy seasons for the town were
the assizes and county elections. (fn. 155) From the church
registers it appears that Isabel Rigby was executed for
witchcraft in 1666 and Peter Lathom for treason in
1683.

The approach of the Revolution was marked by
several incidents showing the Whig temper of the
townsmen. An election for a borough member in
the time of James II proved this in the case of the
'common freemen,' though the mayor and council
and neighbouring gentry contrived to override them
by bringing in as freemen 'the country gentlemen's
servants and attendants—six for one shilling—who
were thereafter called "Twopenny freemen."' (fn. 156) In
1687 the king desired the opinions of the corporation
as to the repeal of the penal laws against the Roman
Catholic religion and of the Test Act. Of the
thirty-six members thirty-one appeared, of whom
eighteen were opposed to any alteration, six or seven
were doubtful, and only the small minority left were
in favour of repeal. (fn. 157) A bonfire to celebrate the
birth of the Prince of Wales in June 1688 was
obviously unwelcome to the inhabitants. The chief
officer of the customs caused it to be lighted, but
few of the people came. The use of some gunpowder brought out the mayor's opposition; he 'cut
one of the drums and broke the drummer's head,
and so it ended.' (fn. 158) About the same time 'John
Greenwood was elected mayor of Lancaster, and the
mace was carried before him, with inferior officers
attending him, to the Presbyterian place of worship.' (fn. 159)
Lancaster was thus prepared for the Revolution. In
December 1688 a muster of the county force was
made on Green Ayre, 4,600 assembling. (fn. 160) There
was a disturbance at the castle, the prisoners for debt
claiming freedom and locking the officers out. (fn. 161)

Dr. Kuerden, writing about 1690, says: 'Going
[north] through Scotforth town a mile short of
Lancaster, half a mile further you come to the moor,
leaving on the right above the gallows an ancient seat
called the Highfield. Here is a fair prospect of the
town and castle.' (fn. 162) It was from this fact that the high
ground at the south entrance to the town gained its
title of Weeping Hill, (fn. 163) for there prisoners had their
first near view of the place of confinement and trial,
and perhaps of execution also. Celia Fiennes a few
years later gives a more ample account. Going north
from Garstang she reached it in less than three hours,
passing through 'abundance of villages, almost at the
end of every mile, [and going] mostly all along
lanes, being an inclosed country.' She continues:—

They have one good thing in most parts of this principality
(or county palatine it's rather called), that at all crossways there
are posts with hands pointing to each road with the names of the
great town or market towns that it leads to, which does make up
for the length of the miles that strangers may not lose their
road and have it to go back again. You have a great diversion
in this road, having a pleasing prospect of the countries a great
distance round, and see it full of inclosures and some woods.
Three miles off the town you see it very plain, and the sea—even
the main ocean; in one place an arm of it comes up within two
miles of the town. The river Lune runs by the town and so
into the sea.

The situation of Lancaster town is very good. The church
neatly built of stone; the castle, which is just by; both on a
very great ascent from the rest of the town, and so is in open
view, the town and river lying round it beneath. On the castle
tower walking quite round by the battlements I saw the whole
town and river at a view, which runs almost quite round and
returns again by the town, and saw the sea beyond, and the
great high hills beyond that part of the sea, which are in Wales;
and also in Westmorland, to the great hills there called Furness
Fells or hills, being a string of vast high hills together; also
into Cumberland, to the great hill called Black Combe, whence
they dig their black lead and nowhere else; I saw also into
Yorkshire. There is lead, copper, gold and silver in some of
those hills, and marble and crystal also.

Lancaster town is old and much decayed. There has been a
monastery; the walls of part of it remain and some of the
carved stones and figures. There is in it a good garden and a
pond in it with a little island on which an appletree grows—a
Jenitin; and strawberries all round its roots and the banks of
the little isle. There are two pretty wells and a vault that
leads a great way underground up as far as the castle, which is
a good distance. In the river there are great weirs or falls of
water made for salmon fishing, where they hang their nets and
catch great quantities of fish, which is near the bridge. The
town seems not to be much in trade as some others, but the
great store of fish makes them live plentifully as also the great
plenty of all provisions. The streets are some of them well
pitched and of a good size. When I came into the town the
stones were so slippery, crossing some channels, that my horse
was quite down on his nose, but did at length recover himself
and so I was not thrown off or injured; which I desire to bless
God for, as for the many preservations I met with. I cannot
say the town seems a lazy town, and there are trades of all
sorts. There is a large meeting-house, but their minister was
but a mean preacher. (fn. 164)

The Scottish Jacobites in 1715 on reaching Kirkby
Lonsdale were informed that Lancaster was quite unprepared for an attack, and they thereupon determined
to march upon it. (fn. 166) The advance was made on
Monday, 7 November. Colonel Charteris of Hornby
and another advised the blowing up of the bridge to
check their progress, but the townsmen pointed out
that its destruction would be of no avail, because the
river at low water was passable (fn. 167) by horse or foot;
so the officers had to be content with seeing that a
shopkeeper's stock of gunpowder (fn. 168) was thrown into
a well in the market-place. A ship at Sunderland
had six cannon, (fn. 169) which it was proposed to bring up
to the town and use in resisting the Jacobites, but Sir
Henry Hoghton, in command of some 600 militiamen, judged it best to withdraw to Preston on being
disappointed in his expectation of support from the
dragoons stationed at Preston, and the town was
therefore left open. The Jacobite forces marched
into the town in good order, with swords drawn,
drums beating, colours flying and bagpipes sounding,
and going straight to the market-place proclaimed
James III king. They were joined by five of the
neighbouring gentry, all Roman Catholics, (fn. 170) and by
two of the townsmen of the same religion. The
Crown prisoners in the castle were set free, including
the Manchester Jacobite Siddall, who joined the invaders. The troops were billeted in the town. Their
chronicler (fn. 171) describes Lancaster as ' of very good
trade, very pleasantly situated,' and regrets that they
made no stand there, as the castle and seaport would
have been of great assistance. On the Tuesday morning the six guns were brought up from Sunderland,
and at a service held in the parish church, to which
'abundance of persons went,' King James was prayed
for instead of King George. The afternoon was
devoted to recreation; 'the gentlemen soldiers
dressed and trimmed themselves up in their best
clothes, for to drink a dish of tea with the ladies of
this town. The ladies also here appeared in their best
rigging and had their tea tables richly furnished for
to entertain their new suitors.' In the evening 'a
discourse about religion happened between the minister
of this town and two Romish priests.' It is acknowledged that the invaders paid for what they took, and
that none of the townspeople were injured. Next
morning, Wednesday the 9th, they left for Preston.
After their defeat and surrender at this place the
following Monday about 400 were brought back as
prisoners to Lancaster Castle, and the church registers
record a number of deaths among them. (fn. 172) Five
were executed 18 February 1715–16 and five more
2 October 1716. (fn. 173) For some years after this soldiers
were stationed in Lancaster.

Defoe, visiting the town about fifteen years later,
was not favourably impressed; it had 'little to recommend it but a decayed castle and a more decayed
port, not capable of receiving ships of any considerable
burden.' The bridge he thought 'handsome and
strong,' but there was 'little or no trade and few
people.' (fn. 174) The Bucks' views of the town from the
Skerton side and of the castle are dated 1728. The
Autobiography of a local tradesman, William Stout, has
been preserved and printed (fn. 175); it affords information
of the town and its trade during more than fifty
years, 1690–1740. John Hodgson, whom he calls
'the greatest and most respectable merchant of my
time,' established a sugar refinery at Lancaster. (fn. 176)
Stout himself was grocer, ironmonger and tobacconist,
and gives accounts of his various shipping ventures,
some prosperous, others adverse. Ships in 1692 and
later brought tobacco and other goods from Virginia
and the West Indies (fn. 177); other vessels traded to the
Baltic. (fn. 178) A watchmaker was buried in 1684.

In the advance of the Young Pretender into England
in 1745 his cavalry reached Lancaster from the north
on 24 November and left for Preston next day,
making way for the infantry, who arrived that day
and left on the 26th. Prince Charles Edward came
with the latter part of his forces, and lodged for the
night at a house in Church Street, now the Conservative Club. No recruits seem to have been attracted
in the town. On its retreat north the army was here on
13–14 December; General Oglethorpe was a day
behind them, and the Duke of Cumberland arrived
on the 16th. (fn. 179) James Ray, the Whig historian of
the event, stayed at the 'Sun,' and thus describes the
town: 'It is at present a populous thriving corporation, trading to the West Indies with hardware and
woollen manufactures, and in return import sugars,
rum, cotton, &c. (fn. 180) Later travellers, Dr. Pococke (fn. 181)
and Thomas Pennant, (fn. 182) were also favourably impressed.

From that time its story is mainly that of its trade.
Acts were obtained for improving the navigation of
the river from 1749 onward. (fn. 183) A pleasing idea of
Lancaster is afforded by a description penned about
1775:—

The new houses are peculiarly neat and handsome; the
streets are well paved, and thronged with inhabitants, busied in
a prosperous trade to the West Indies and other places. Along
a fine quay noble warehouses are built. And when it shall
please those concerned to deepen the shoals in the river, ships
of great burthen may lie before them; for at present we only
see in that part of the river such as do not exceed 250 tons.
The air of Lancaster is salubrious, the environs pleasant, the
inhabitants wealthy, courteous, hospitable and polite. (fn. 184)

The West India trade here, as at Liverpool, embraced the African slave trade. (fn. 185)

This time of prosperity had various accompaniments. A race meeting was held as far back as
1758 (fn. 186); after declining the races were for a time
revived in 1809 on a course at the north-east border
of the town, partly in Quernmore. The printing
press appeared about 1768. (fn. 187) The public buildings
which sprang up include the Custom House, built in
1764 from a design by Richard Gillow, founder of
the great cabinet-making house (fn. 188); the Town Hall,
1781–3 (fn. 189); the Skerton Bridge, 1788, from the
plan of Thomas Harrison, afterwards of Chester (fn. 190);
and the poor-house, about the same time. (fn. 191) Churches
were built also and various charities founded. An
agricultural society, offering prizes to farmers, was
established about 1798. (fn. 192) The first newspaper, the
Lancaster Gazetteer, was founded in 1801, and appeared
weekly till 1894. (fn. 193)

There was a considerable over-sea trade by local
vessels, (fn. 194) some of them privateers, able to meet force
by force. The Thetis of Lancaster, Captain John
Charnley, 16 guns, sailed from Cork for Barbadoes
in September 1804 in company with the Ceres and
Penelope, and when near their destination they were
(8 November) attacked by the Bonaparte, a French
privateer of 20 guns, which first gave the Ceres a
broadside, and then after an exchange of broadsides
with the Thetis ran alongside the latter vessel and
lashed herself to her. The boarders attacked four
times and were repulsed as often; then the vessels broke
loose, and after again exchanging broadsides the Frenchman stood away. (fn. 195) The West India traffic, with
its imports of mahogany, probably led to the development of the furniture manufacture, which has
long been noteworthy. A century ago there were
two shipbuilding yards, sail-cloth was made to a considerable extent, and the cotton manufacture had been
introduced. (fn. 196) There were a number of minor
trades. (fn. 197) Stone was quarried on the moor. The
Lune afforded salmon, trout and other fish; a further
supply was obtained from the sea fisheries off the
mouth of the river and in Morecambe Bay. (fn. 198) There
were daily coaches north and south, (fn. 199) and a packet
boat conveyed passengers as well as goods by the canal,
which was formed 1793–7. (fn. 200) A number of penny,
halfpenny and farthing tokens were issued in 1791
and 1794. (fn. 201) A volunteer corps was formed in 1795 (fn. 202)
and disbanded in 1802, but another was embodied
in 1803. (fn. 203) The Duke of Gloucester, the king's
brother, accompanied by his son Prince William,
visited the town on 25–6 September 1804, and
inspected the corps in the Friarage.

Among the extinct institutions are the Savings
Bank, established in 1823 (fn. 204) and taken over by the
Post Office in 1889; the Amicable Society, a book
club, established in 1769 and dissolved in 1906,
when its library was sold; and the Fine Arts Institution, 1820. The Philippi Club, a social club, was
founded in 1797 and continued to meet until 1852. (fn. 205)
A society called the Athenæum, for the maintenance
of lectures, &c., was founded in 1849 and lasted till
1880. The Literary, Scientific and Natural History
Society, established in 1835, had a museum.

Trade began to decline in the early part of last
century, and, though an Act for the improvement of
the port was obtained in 1807, (fn. 206) the Lune became
more and more obstructed. Lancaster could not
afford the facilities and advantages of Liverpool, and
its foreign trade was gradually drawn from it. There
were serious bank failures in 1822 and 1826, both
the old banks stopping payment. (fn. 207)

The more recent transformation of the town has
been due to the establishment and prosperity of an
entirely new trade, the manufacture of oilcloth and
linoleum, which began about 1845, and has given
Lancaster a distinctive place among the industrial
centres of the county and the kingdom. Its founders
were the late James Williamson and Sir Thomas
Storey. The former, born in Cumberland in 1816,
became a tradesman in Lancaster, and gradually built
up the great business which has been further developed by his son, Lord Ashton; he was a liberal
benefactor of the town, and served as alderman and
mayor. He died in 1879. Thomas Storey was a
native of Bardsea who founded a similar business.
He also was a benefactor of the town and served as
mayor; he was made a knight in 1887. He died
in 1898, being seventy-three years of age. A change
of another kind has taken place at Morecambe, which
has by degrees become a popular seaside resort. Two
smaller industries were represented by the Iron Shipbuilding Co., founded about 1860 and dissolved in
1870, and the Wagon Works, founded in 1863 and
afterwards amalgamated with Manchester and Birmingham Works, the local factory being closed in 1908.

In the rural districts of the parish the greater
part of the agricultural land is in grass, though there
is a certain amount of arable, as the following
figures (fn. 208) will show:—

Arable land

Permanent grass

Woods and plantations

ac.

ac.

ac.

Lancaster

47

442

—

Aldcliffe

24½

630½

3½

Bulk

221

817

29

Ashton with Stodday

78½

1,146

118

Scotforth

150½

2,510½

58

Skerton

26½

561½

—

Overton

266

685

—

Poulton, Bare and Torrisholme

176

1,053½

—

Heaton with Oxcliffe

478½

1,133

—

Middleton

362

873

—

Quernmore

292

4,424

450

Over Wyresdale

304½

6,517½

362

Caton

185½

4,252

654

Gressingham

39

1,473½

38½

2,651½

26,519

1,713

The original railway, that from Preston, planned
in 1836, was opened in 1840; the station and end
of the line were at the Greaves, where the sidings are
still used for goods traffic. Soon afterwards (1846)
the line was continued north by a deviation through
the west side of the town, the station being fixed
below the castle; the present enlarged station was
completed in 1902. The river was crossed by the
Carlisle Bridge—of wood, on stone piers—replaced
by the present iron structure in 1866; it has a footbridge for passengers at one side. The railway in
1864 became amalgamated with the London and
North-Western system, and is part of the western
route to Scotland. The second railway, once known
as the old or little North-Western, comes west from
Yorkshire through Caton and Lancaster (Green
Ayre) to Morecambe; it was opened in 1848, (fn. 209)
and is now part of the Midland Company's system.
A branch line was made to connect the two railways.
The London and North-Western Company afterwards formed a line to Morecambe, opened in 1861;
a new loop line to Lancaster was made in 1888.
The same company constructed a single-line
railway from Lancaster to Glasson Dock, opened
in 1883.

Among the worthies of the town a leading place
may fitly be granted to some of its benefactors—
John Gardiner, who endowed the grammar school
and founded almshouses towards the end of the
15th century; William Penny (d. 1716), also a
founder of almshouses still at work (fn. 210); Robert and
William Heysham, the former (d. 1723) M.P. for
Lancaster 1698–1715, and the latter also M.P. from
1716 till his death in 1727 (fn. 211); Thomas Ripley,
commemorated by the orphanages; and James
Brunton, through whose gift in 1864 the Albert
Institution arose. Notices of most of the following
natives of the town will be found in the Dictionary of
National Biography:—Henry Bracken, M.D., 1697–
1764, wrote on farriery (fn. 212); Elizabeth Daye, a minor
poet, 1733–1829 (fn. 213); Henry Cort, 1740–1800,
invented the method of refining iron by puddling;
John Heysham, 1753–1834, settled as a physician
in Carlisle, where he founded a dispensary and did
useful work in compiling mortality statistics (fn. 214);
Thomas Hill, 1760–1840, a book collector, is stated
to have been the original of 'Paul Pry' (fn. 215); James
Lonsdale, 1777–1839, had a high reputation as a
portrait painter; Thomas Edmondson, 1792–1851,
a Quaker, invented the method of printing railway
tickets; William Higgin, D.D., 1793–1867, son of
John Higgin of Greenfield, became Bishop of Limerick
in 1849 and of Derry in 1853 (fn. 216); William Whewell,
D.D., 1794–1866, the famous master of Trinity
College, Cambridge, was a voluminous writer on
scientific and philosophical subjects and took a leading
part in the University reforms of his time; he founded
the professorship of International Law which bears
his name (fn. 217); George Edmondson, brother of Thomas,
1798–1863, gained honour as an educationist;
George Danson, 1799–1881, landscape and scene
painter; William Sanderson, 1803–48, wrote poems
published after his death; Sir Richard Owen, K.C.B.,
1804–92, attained world-wide renown as a naturalist (fn. 218); William Swainson, 1809–83, took a leading
part in New Zealand affairs; John Chippindall
Montesquieu Bellew, originally Higgin, 1823–74,
was an author and elocutionist (fn. 219); James Mansergh,
F.R.S., 1834–1905, attained eminence as a civil
engineer, carrying out the Birmingham Waterworks
and other great schemes; Richard Preston, D.D.,
1856–1905, became coadjutor Bishop of Hexham
and Newcastle, with the title of Bishop of Phocaea;
William Oliver Roper, 1856–1908, a solicitor who
was town clerk 1892–6, was a diligent student of
the history of his native town, issuing many occasional
essays and editing the chartulary of Lancaster Priory
for the Chetham Society.

Gardiner. Sable a cheveron between three bugle-horns argent garnished or.

Heysham. Gules an anchor in pale or, on a chief of the second three torteaux.

Higgin. Vert three cranes' heads erased argent.

Whewell. Argent on a bend azure three Diana's heads of the field crined and horned or.

Others who were not natives of the town have
rendered useful service in various ways. Matthew
Talbot Baines, son of Edward Baines and a politician
of note, was sometime Chancellor of the Duchy; he
long resided in Lancaster, where he died in 1860. (fn. 220)
Edward Denis de Vitre, M.D., 1806–78, settled in
Lancaster in 1832 and was twice mayor; he was
the physician to the county asylum, and took a large
part in founding the Royal Albert Institution. (fn. 221)
John Shadrach Slinger, 1828–1901, born at Clapham,
was a useful local antiquary. Joseph Rowley, incumbent of Stalmine, was chaplain of the castle for
fifty-four years, 1804–58.

6. Roger of Poitou in 1094 gave to the
church certain land extending from 'the
old wall' to Godfrey's orchard; Lanc.
Ch. (Chet. Soc.), i, 8.

7. Information of Mr. H. A. Grueber,
referring to B. M. Cat. of Angl.-Sax.
Coins, ii, and Hildebrand, Angl.-Sax.
Mynt, 352–3. The moneyers' names
were Ægelwine, Ælfwerd and Dunberd. The existence of the mint is very
doubtful.

14. It lies almost exactly half within and
half without the line of the Roman wall,
standing across the south-west corner of
the castrum. See E. W. Cox in Trans.
Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Ches. xii (new ser.),
97–103, where the subject is discussed at
some length.

15. Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Ches. xii
(new ser.), 106.
A survey of the building was made in
1578 to judge what repairs were needed.
The gatehouse was described as 'a fair
large tower, being three heights stonework,
with several lodgings,' and a watch-tower.
The rooms named are those of the queen's
attorney, the clerk of the county, the
prothonotary and the porter; there were
also the portcullis chamber and the
chancery where the records were kept.
The buttery was another part. The
'great tower called Longes Toure' was
of stonework, very strong and 24 yds.
square. In one of its 'lodgings' the
judges used to sit; in another the exchequer was kept; there were stables
under them. The kitchen and the hall
with adjacent lodgings for the judges are
also mentioned as well as the gaol. The
estimated cost of repairs was £235 13s. 4d.;
Duchy of Lanc. Spec. Com. 271.
A further survey was made in 1588,
when the estimate for repairs amounted
to £138 10s.; ibid. 423.

21. Some idea of the extent and character
of the damage done and the repairs required can be gathered from the items
making up the schedule of estimated
cost, which are under separate heads as
follows: Mason (work over the Lungess
Tower, the Judges' Hall, the Dungeon
Tower, the stairs into the Judges' Hall,
the Crown Office, and about the Gatehouse, with the 'rough spattlemt' from
the Dungeon to Lungess Tower and
stairs to the Shire Hall), £82; Waller's
work with getting and leading lime and
stone service (the outwalls in length
150 yds., in height 12 yds., in breadth
8 ft.), £100; Woodwork (in Dungeon
Tower, one-half of highest roof in Lungess
Tower and two lower floors in same, the
barr in the Shire Hall, the kitchen roof
and floor, doors, gate, &c.), £400; Ironwork (1½ tons of iron for gates and 1 ton
for stanchions and workmanship), £84;
Leadwork (18 tons Lungess Tower, 1 ton
over Judges' Hall, 14 cwt. over kitchen,
1 ton 5 cwt. over gatehouse, 2½ tons over
Crown Office, and over Dungeon Tower
and labour), £351; Plastering and slating,
£30; glassing, £10. It was stated that
the beauty and strength of the stately
towers of the castle had been preserved,
only the lines and gates having been
demolished. See Roper, op. cit. 245 seq.

22. There are two oil paintings of the
interior of the court of the castle about
1750 in possession of the Historic Society
of Lancashire and Cheshire. They are
reproduced in the Trans. i (old ser.), 99;
xii (new ser.), 118.

23. All the new buildings of 1788–98
were designed by Mr. Harrison, architect,
of Chester. In the Binns Collection at
Liverpool Reference Library is a series of
pen-and-ink sketches of Lancaster Castle
showing the new additions and alterations,
which are probably the work of Harrison.
See Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Ches. xii
(new ser.), 119.

36. This wall is often called 'Roman.'
Mr. Cox describes its construction as
follows: 'Its inner and outer faces are a
single thickness of good ashlar masonry,
tooled in the mediaeval manner, and
having masons' marks corresponding with
those of the tower. The interval between
these walls is filled with rough stones
and boulders, embedded in very hard
mortar, so hard that it took six weeks to
cut this passage through it. . . . It is
manifest that the ashlar facing with the
twelfth or thirteenth-century tooling and
marks was built together with the grouting
of rough stone and mortar intervening.
There is no refacing; the whole wall
is of one period, that of the tower, and it
is not Roman. Indeed it is probable that
the Roman station was pulled down to
supply the material for the castle, as two
or three Roman ashlar facing stones were
found mixed up with the interior grouting';
Trans. Hist. Soc. Lancs. and Ches. xii,
(new ser.), 111–12. The reference to the
passage is to an opening cut through the
wall in 1892–3, which gave an excellent
section.

42. Ibid. The vault was constructed on
a framework of wattle or wickerwork,
which was covered over with very hard
mortar both externally and internally,
which when set formed an excellent
centering for the stone vault. The marks
of the wattle are still visible.

43. In the Pipe Roll of 1196–7 appears a
sum of 10 marks for the repair of the
castle and gaol of Lancaster; Farrer,
Lancs. Pipe R. 97. See also Dep. Keeper's
Rep. xl, App. 530 (1401). The gaol is
frequently mentioned, e.g. Close, 67, m. 18
(37 Hen. III); Cal. Pat. 1281–92, p. 21,
&c.
It is as court-house and prison that the
castle is still used. Under the system of
imprisonment for debt insolvent debtors
from all parts of the county used to be
sent to it.

45. Itinerary of John in introduction to
Rot. Lit. Pat. (Rec. Com.), i, pp. xxxv,
xli; the king was at Carlisle on 18 Feb.
1205–6, at Lancaster 26 Feb. and at
Nottingham 9 Mar. He seems to have
taken special notice of this place even
before he was king, for he granted the
earliest charters extant and had the castle
repaired; V.C.H. Lancs. ii, 191–2; Farrer,
op. cit. 112, 164.

46. These notices are due to Mr. Sydney
Armitage Smith, who refers to Duchy
of Lanc. Chan. Warrants, no. 53, 60,
61; ii, 8, 9, 11, 170. The duke was
at St. Michael's on 25 Sept. 1385 and
at Preston on 27 Sept. He was present
at Lancaster again on 14 May, 20 June,
28 July, 10 and 13 Aug. 1393.

47. Christopher Barton was in 1442
appointed constable of the castle for life
in succession to William Rigmaiden (constable in 1401); Dep. Keeper's Rep. xl,
App. 530, 537. William Farington was
appointed in 1597; Cal. S.P. Dom. 1595–7,
p. 398. There were disputes about the
office between Farington and Anderton.

48. There is a list of the constables from
1401 in W. R. Williams' Lancaster Official
Lists, 108–12.

50. By a charter of 1362, granted at the
request of John of Gaunt, the king ordered
that all pleas and sessions were to be held
in the town and nowhere else in the
county; Roper, Materials for Hist. of Lanc.
(Chet. Soc.), 124.
Henry VIII in 1546 ordered quarter
sessions to be held at Lancaster, Preston,
Ormskirk and Wigan, and Manchester;
Ducatus Lanc. (Rec. Com.), ii, 91. Clitheroe
was afterwards added to the list. In
1556–7, however, the corporation obtained an order from the Crown that
assizes and quarter sessions were to be
held at Lancaster only; Roper, op. cit.
153.

51. Ibid. ii, 233. See also Final Conc. (Rec.
Soc. Lancs. and Ches.), ii, 130–67, covering most of the time of Henry Duke of
Lancaster; iii, 140, plague in 1466.

56. Lanc. Ch. ii, 307. From later pleadings it is known that Swartmoor, where
there was a windmill, lay between Fenham Carr and the town; Ducatus Lanc.
(Rec. Com.), ii, 188.

57. The English name seems to have
been St. Mary-gate; Kuerden fol. MS.
pp. 87, 244, 385. In 1312–13 William
son of William son of Juliana de Lancaster
demised to Adam son of Richard de
Cockerham for life a burgage in St. Marygate occupied by William de Ashton; ibid.
245. In the following year the same
grantor gave to Adam the Purser of Lancaster and Joan his wife another burgage
in the street, situate between the burgages
of Adam son of Simon and Thomas the
Leather-dresser, to hold to farm of the
chief lords at 12d. rent; ibid. 247.

58. Before 1288 William son of Alan de
Catherton gave to Earl Edmund son of
Henry III all his land in Lancaster, including burgages in St. Mary-gate, Marketgate and St. Leonard-gate; Duchy of
Lanc. Great Coucher, i, fol. 64, no. 25.
In 1338 John de Lancaster and Alice his
wife demised a burgage in Market-gate on
lease at a rent of 10s., the tenant to find a
man for reaping for one day each year and
to build a new stable within three years;
Kuerden fol. MS. p. 245. Katherine
Haybergh, daughter of John Lambert,
in 1448 gave three burgages in the
Market-gate to Lambert Stodagh; ibid.
188.
It must be noticed that the name
Market Street occurs in a Cockersand
charter which may be dated between 1200
and 1240; it relates to a toft on the east
side of Market Street by the booths;
Cockersand Chartul. iii, 823. The unusual
word 'street' may be an error for 'stead.'

59. The street led out to St. Leonard's
Hospital in Bulk. Robert son of Iva
gave to the priory a burgage in St. Leonardgate from which 1d. rent was due to the
chief lord; Lanc. Ch. ii, 329. Gilbert
Vivian gave 6d. rent from a burgage in
the same street; ibid. 330.
Spital Brook was probably the boundary
stream at the north end. In 1488–9 the
mayor and corporation gave lands at Spital
Brook, St. Leonard-gate, to Christopher
Leeming; they had been held by Margaret
Duckett; Ducatus Lanc. i, 118.

60. In 1299 William son of William son
of Juliana de Lancaster gave part of a
burgage in Penny Street (bought by his
father from Orm de Kellet) to Walter son
of Grimbald in free marriage with Alice
daughter of Simon the Goldsmith by
Emmota, grantor's sister; Towneley
MS. HH, no. 350, 372. To the burgesses of Preston Henry de Pecford in
1315–16 granted a burgage in Penny
Street; Kuerden MSS. iv, P 118.
Among the Furness Abbey deeds is
one by which Alice daughter of William
son of Hawise released a burgage in Penny
Street to William Scot, and another by
which the feoffees gave to William son of
William Scot and Anabel his wife a
burgage in Penny Street and an acre of
land on Lousibrok (Lucy Brook); Add.
MS. 33244, fol. 78, 78b. This seems to
be the burgage and land demised by
Furness Abbey in 1424 to John Stodagh;
Towneley MS. HH, no. 385.

61. A rental of Lancaster Priory, dated
1360, names all these streets, giving names
of occupiers of the priory burgages and
lands. Peter de Bolron held a burgage
with 2 acres in the field of Old Lancaster,
also 4 acres and the site of a grange in
Lancaster in the street called Betwixbarns.
'Galgorken' is named; Rentals and
Surv. portf. 9, no. 78.
Galgorken (cf. Gargorham below) is
perhaps the present Golgotha.

63. Land in St. Mary-gate is in an old
deed stated to lie to the south of the
Fishergate stands; Kuerden fol. MS.
p. 212. These may be the Stones mentioned in a Furness charter; Dep. Keeper's
Rep. xxxvi, App. 163. In 1495 James
Kellet released all his right in land in
the Seylgarths in St. Mary-gate by the
Fishstones; Towneley MS. HH, no. 323.

64. John Lawrence of Ashton in 1347
gave to John the Frereson and Joan his
wife—they had sons named Edmund and
John—a burgage in St. Mary-gate upon
Caldkeld Bank; ibid. no. 430. William
son of William son of Oger de Lancaster
granted a burgage on Caldkeld to William
son of Matthew the gardener; it had
formerly been given by his grandfather
Oger to the Matthew named in free
marriage with Maud his daughter. A
rent of 4s. was payable to Furness Abbey;
Add. MS. 33244, fol. 76b.

65. William de Parles, with the consent
of his wife Maud daughter of Nicholas,
granted land by the castle to William
Ortolan at the rent of an iron arrow;
Towneley MS. HH, no. 310. This may
have been the messuage near the castle
owned by Lambert de Bulk in 1363; ibid.
no. 413. Nicholas de Lea about 1280
released to Earl Edmund a messuage and
land on the west side of Lambert the
Dispenser's burgage by the castle, receiving 100s.; Duchy of Lanc. Great Couch.
i, fol. 77, no. 68. Simon Davidson gave
to feoffees in 1373 a burgage by the castle
between the burgages of Lambert the Cook
and William the Marshal; Add. MS.
32104, no. 410, and Brockholes D.

66. Cockersand Chartul. iii, 1284–5. St.
Nicholas-gate is named also in a Conishead rental, c. 1520.
St. Patrick's Lane disappears later; it
may be the same as China Lane. In
1508 a toft abutting on St. Patrick's
Lane was granted by Richard Curwen to
Lambert Stodagh; Towneley MS. C 8,
13 (Chet. Lib.), C 237.

67. Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 225.
Again in 1251–2 thirty oaks from the
forest were ordered for its repair; Close,
66, m. 8. This bridge would probably
be of timber; the later stone bridge had
three piers, one standing in the middle of
the river, and four arches.

69. No early references to it by name
have occurred. In 1521 Ralph Standish
of Standish granted four messuages or
burgages between Moor Lane and St.
Leonard-gate to William Standish of
Kendal; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 132,
m. 10.

70. The following notes may be of use:—
In 1457–8 trustees of the Bolron
family made a transfer of lands on Haverbrecks in the town fields, other land near
the road from Lancaster to Aldcliffe by
Monsehalgh Green, and another parcel
by Deepcarr Side; Kuerden fol. MS.
p. 385. Richard son and heir of Thomas
Frere in 1490 released to Christopher
Leeming parcels of land, one of which
extended from the Lancaster meadow
pertaining to the almshouse west to the
wall of the Friars' house, and another
lay on Haverbrecks on the north side of
Estihite; Duchy of Lanc. Anct. D.
(P.R.O.), L 1091.
Lancaster Priory received land in Highfield, also other land in the town fields
in the Millfield, adjoining the highway
to Gargorham; Lanc. Ch. ii, 315, 320.
Twenty acres called the Millfield were
in 1323 occupied by ten free tenants,
who paid 5s. rent to the earl; Lancs.
Inq. and Extents (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), ii, 119. Furness Abbey also had
land in the Millfield, and Robert de Roos
gave it a burgage at the Stones with
half an acre in Etenbreck (Edenbreck)
by the green way towards Aldcliffe;
Add. MS. 33244, fol. 77, 78. This
'green way' seems to be the present footpath (by Kendal Padfields) from the west
end of the town to Aldcliffe.
A 'gare' between Millfield and Hungerhill is named in a deed c. 1280; Kuerden
fol. MS. p. 246, 189. Lands on Stonebreck, Hungerhill and Mawdale (Maheudale) were in 1309–10 granted by Lambert
the Dispenser; ibid. 92. The butts in
Mawdale were described as in the townfield of Lancaster in 1345; ibid. 190.
Mawdale lies a little distance south-west
of the castle.
Three perches on the east side of the
vill within Oatlands were given to
Cockersand Abbey; Chartul. iii, 823.
Two acres near Sourholme also were
given; ibid. 822.
In 1313 Robert de Berde granted
William de Hambleton 1½ acres in the
town fields by the Headhow and 3 roods
in Arnewyscoles; Towneley MS. HH,
no. 339. About the same time John
son of Thomas son of William de
Aldcliffe gave land in the town fields
(Wolstreharve and Jurdanheld) to John
de Lancaster and Alice his wife; ibid.
no. 354. Jurdanheld is named in an
earlier deed (ibid. no. 388); it may be
the Jurdanhead adjoining Longlands of a
grant by James Kellet to John Hubersty
in 1490; Pal. of Lanc. Plea R. 69, m. 6.
Land in the fields at 'Burghmangallies'
was in 1315 given by Lawrence Oliver
to Ralph the Chanter, Joan his wife and
William their son; Towneley MS. HH,
no. 477. Land by the 'Bourngallighes'
was two years later given by Ralph the
Chanter to William de Slene; ibid.
no. 454.
Two burgages in St. Mary Street, an
acre and grange on Swartmoor, a croft
and three selions near the Friary were in
1452 granted to Robert Lea and Joan
his wife; Brockholes of Claughton
Deeds.

71. Pink and Beaven, Parl. Repre. of
Lancs. 103, &c. The borough did not
again send representatives until 1529.

73. Cal. Close, 1296–1302, pp. 82, 122.
In 1398 corn and provisions imported
into Lancaster and other ports of the
county were exempted from customs;
Cal. Pat. 1396–9, p. 329. The port is
again mentioned in 1401; ibid. 1401–5,
p. 6. In 1431 it was a port for shipment to Ireland; ibid. 1429–36, p. 153.
In 1566–7 the ships of Lancaster were
enumerated with those of Chester; Cal.
S. P. Dom. 1580–1625, p. 441.

75. From the account of the church it
will be seen that the value of the tithes
was seriously diminished, and the tithes
afford an index to the cultivation of the
soil. Certain tenements escheated to
the earl were in 1323 found to have
fallen in value owing to 'the burning by
the Scots'; Lancs. Inq. and Extents, ii,
116.

76. Cal. Pat. 1345–8, p. 382. In the
same year a cottage at Calais was granted
to Adam de Birle of Lancaster; ibid.
565. Probably he had fought in the
French war.

85. See the accounts of the townships.
The king's mill of Lancaster is named in
1251–2, when timber from the forest was
ordered for its repair; Close, 66, m. 1.
In 1314 the earl had two mills—both in
Skerton—called Lune Mill and Brook
Mill, which yielded £13 6s. 8d.; Lancs.
Inq. and Extents, ii, 23.

86. Itin. v, 99. The 'old place' may
be what was afterwards (1610) named
the Old Hall. Nothing is known of any
Catfield family; perhaps it is an error
for Cansfield.

88. L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii (1), p. 416.
The mayor was John Standish, a servant
of Lord Derby's (ibid. xi, 947), who some
time afterwards (1539) was arrested and
sent up to the king; ibid. xiv (2), 417.

95. His offence was the harbouring of
seminary priests; see the account of
Little Crosby.

96. Accounts of most of those named,
usually drawn from contemporaries, will
be found in Challoner's Missionary Priests
and other works cited in these notes.
According to the county map of Yates
and Billinge, 1786, the gallows stood
between the roads to Wyresdale and
Quernmore, to the east of the present
workhouse.

98. Engl. Martyrs (Cath. Rec. Soc.), i,
74–8. See Challoner and Gillow. It is
stated that two other priests were found
guilty at the same time as Bell, but the
judge having had orders to execute only
one, sentenced the others, Richard Hatton
(see text) and Thomas Williamson, to
perpetual imprisonment.

100. See ibid. 385 and the account of
Preston. There is ibid. 389–90 an
account, dated April 1601, of the execution of Hunt and Middleton: 'They
asked benediction one of another and
embraced each other before they went
up to the gallows. Mr. Hunt was
first executed and having the cord about
his neck he gave his blessing to all
catholics there present, which were a
great number. Both [were] executed in
their cassocks. Mr. Hunt hanged till he
was dead. Mr. Middleton . . . . was
cut down alive—by error, as some think.
For as soon as the rope was cut and he
began to stir in the butcher's hands the
sheriff bade straightways cut off his head,
and so it was; and thus he being last
hanged was first quartered.'

101. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1598–1601, p. 14.
The terms of the complaint show something of the quality of the prisoners.

107. A shop underneath the toll booth is
mentioned in a lease of 1667; W.
Farrer's D. At a later time, perhaps
then also, the chancery of the duchy
stood in a little passage leading from the
Market Place to Church Street, still
called Chancery Lane.

108. This name for the present China
Street does not occur elsewhere and may
be an engraver's mistake. As Cheyney
Lane it occurs in the by-laws of 1572.
The little cross passage from Market
Street to Church Street, called Sun Street,
may then have existed but is not drawn
on the plan. New Street, formerly
Charles Street, was not made till 1748.

112. Near the gallows, at the upper end
of Moor Lane (outside the 1610 plan),
was a mineral spring or spa well; Timehonoured Lanc. 425, 446.

113. In 1574 the mayor and corporation
granted to Robert Dalton of Thurnham
a lease of a suitable plot in the waste of
the town of Lancaster, commonly called
the Green Ayre, on which plot he was
to build a large house for a water-mill,
or two mills, at the point he considered
most suitable; he was allowed to make
a mill stream and dam; Roper, op. cit.
i, 161. This mill seems to have superseded the old priory mill in Bulk, which
had, through John Gardiner's benefaction,
provided the schoolmaster's salary.

114. According to Binns' map the town
house of the Earls of Derby stood at the
western corner of China Lane, but this
may have been much later than 1610.
The residence of the Shireburnes was
called the New Hall in 1596.

115. The present Judges' Lodgings stand
on the site. The Old Hall may have
been the house built in 1314 (at a cost
of £91 to the earl's revenue) for Sir
Robert de Holland, perhaps in his capacity
as the earl's representive; Lancs. Inq.
and Extents, ii, 27. Early in the 17th
century it was the residence of Thomas
Covell (d. 1639). He probably rebuilt it,
for in 1662, then the property of Thomas
Cole, it was called the New Hall; Lanc.
Ch. 603.

119. Cal. S. P. Dom. 1633–4, p. 330. A
similar complaint was made by various
trade companies in 1690, and they were
formally incorporated; ibid. 1690–1,
p. 61; 1691–2, p. 541. This affair
seems to have been merely a party 'job,'
and had no beneficial results; Stout,
Autobiog. 31.

123. There is a full account of the trial
in Potts' Discovery of Witches (Chet. Soc.).

124. In 1630 a reputed wizard named
Utley was hanged for the death (by his
art) of Richard Assheton of Middleton;
Whitaker, Whalley, ii, 152 (from a
17th-century pedigree). In 1633 seventeen more were found guilty but reprieved. An execution for the same
offence is mentioned in 1634; Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1634–5, p. 152. In 1635 Bishop
Bridgeman visited Lancaster to examine
four women alleged to be witches; he
found that two had died, and though he
did not absolutely reject the charge in the
case of the survivors, he took care to
point out that the accusers deserved little
credence; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. xii,
App. ii, 80. Two more witches are said
to have been put to death at Lancaster
about 1655; Display of Witchcraft(1673)
quoted in Lancs. Folk-lore, 206.

125. See the account of Haydock.
Challoner, citing contemporary accounts,
gives a long account of the trial and
death from which the words in the text
are quoted. It is added that the judge
(Yelverton) on his departure ordered the
head to be set up higher to be more
conspicuous.

129. Of those mentioned in the text the
cause of beatification was allowed to be
introduced in the following cases by
Leo XIII in 1886: E. Arrowsmith,
L. Baily, E. Bamber, A. Barlow, J. Bell,
J. Finch, T. Hunt, R. Hurst, R. Middleton, R. Nutter, J. Thewlis, E. Thwing,
T. Whittaker, J. Woodcock, R. Wrennall.
They were all Lancashire men except
two. They are entitled Venerable.

130. In 1627 Thomas Metcalfe, taken at
Lancaster on suspicion of being a seminary
priest, complained that he had been kept
in prison for more than two years without
trial; Cal. S. P. Dom. 1627–8, p. 405.
He was removed to the Marshalsea;
ibid. 1628–9, p. 136. A Douay priest of
this name was ordained and sent on the
mission in 1613; Douay Diaries, 20, 35.

131. Henry Ash, 'a prisoner charged to
be a Romish priest,' was buried 11 Apr.
1648. Francis Sherington of Booths is
said to have died in the castle about 1679
while a prisoner for recusancy; Misc.
(Cath. Rec. Soc.), v, 168. On 25 Dec.
1680 'Mr. Birket, a prisoner,' was buried;
he was a priest confined and sentenced
through the Oates plot.

136. Ibid. 28–9; the writer says that in
the town there were 'not many enemies'
to the Royalists, but the evidence appears
to be the other way, and Lord Derby's
action in burning the town shows what
he thought of its politics. In the Civil
War Tracts (Chet. Soc.) there are Royalist
accounts (85) and a Parliamentary one
(87, 130–1). Nehemiah Barnett, then
in charge of the parish church, greatly
encouraged the resistance to Lord Derby.

137. About the end of Apr. 1643 'the
Manchester men' relieved the town, the
castle being found safe and well garrisoned;
ibid. 136. They again succoured it at
the beginning of June, after it had been
besieged by the Westmorland Royalists for
twenty days; ibid. 139.

147. Edward Brand in 1649 compounded
by a fine of £9 for having served the
king in the first war; Cal. Com. for Comp.
iii, 1950.
Elizabeth Higham, widow, who had
always been 'well affected,' compounded
for the 'delinquency' of her late husband,
Thomas Higham (who had land at Torrisholme), by a fine of £17 10s.; ibid. 2111.
James Hardman's estate was seized in
1654 for arrears of £720; ibid. i, 707.
William Massie, a 'delinquent'—involuntarily, according to his own story—
petitioned in 1650 to be allowed to compound; ibid. iii, 1650.
Richard Parkinson, who served for the
king in the first war, paid a fine of £20
in 1649; ibid. 1950.
Further particulars of some of these
cases will be found in the Royalist Comp.
Papers (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and Ches.). Other
cases are mentioned in the accounts of
the different townships.
The estate of Anne Preston of Holker
having been sequestered in 1643 the poor
of Cartmel and Lancaster lost, or were in
danger of losing, the bequest she had
intended for them; Cal. Com. for Comp.
iv, 3098.

149. From his controversy with the
Quakers it is known that 'Major' Wigan,
the Manchester Anabaptist, was imprisoned about 1667; Fox, Journ. (ed.
1852), ii, 22. Thomas Jollie of Wymondhouses was imprisoned in 1665 and 1669;
on the former occasion he 'found favour
and had much liberty'; Jollie's Note-bk.
(Chet. Soc.), 133. John Bailey of Blackburn, another Nonconformist divine who
afterwards went to New England, is said
to have been imprisoned about 1670;
Abram, Blackburn, 359. Charles Sagar,
the leading Blackburn Nonconformist, was
sent to prison in 1683 and while in the
castle preached every week to the prisoners
and others; ibid. 519.
In 1881 the Rev. Sidney Faithorne
Green, incumbent of St. John's, Miles
Platting, was imprisoned for ritualism.

152. Among the prisoners in 1662 was
one John Seddon, who refused the oaths
and was considered a 'dangerous fanatic.'
William Booth, a preacher, was another.
Both had lived in Warrington; Cal. S. P.
Dom. 1661–2, pp. 580, 585.
A letter written by Daniel Fleming in
1664 states that the justices 'proceeded
smartly 'against the Quakers. George Fox
and ten more were sent to close gaol for
refusing the oath of allegiance and sixty
others were fined; ibid. 1663–4, pp. 444,
523. In 1684 and again in 1687–8
John Ecroyd of Folds House, seventh
in ascent from W. Farrer, co-editor of
this history, was imprisoned here for
refusing to answer upon oath in a suit
for tithes; Samuel Routh's MS.

155. Oliver Heywood says that 30,000
assembled for an election in Feb. 1678–9
and that two men were trodden to death
in the crush; Diaries, ii, 259.

156. W. Stout, Autobiog. 30. Charles
Lord Brandon was thus defeated, Roger
Kirkby and Henry Crispe being returned.
Two Whigs were returned to the Convention Parliament of 1688–9; later a
Whig and a Tory or two Tories.

162. Loc. Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 218.
About the same time Ogilby in the
Britannia stated that the town had a
great market on Saturdays for corn,
cattle, fish (especially salmon), and other
provisions.

164. Through England on a Side-saddle,
157. The account is undated, but about
1700, though her concluding sentence
raises a difficulty: 'There are two churches
in the town which are pretty near each
other,' for St. John's was not built till
1754 and is not 'near' the parish
church. She may have mistaken some
other building for a church—perhaps the
school.

172. Lanc. Ch. (Chet. Soc.), iii, 674–5.
Two missionary priests were captured
and imprisoned, one of them, James
Swarbrick, dying in the castle in 1717;
Estcourt and Payne, Engl. Cath. Nonjurors, 355.

173. Stout, Autobiog. 93; Roper, Materials
for Hist. of Lanc. (Chet. Soc.), 74, 78;
Lancs. Memorials, 194, 201, 240–2.
Three or four of them, judging from their
names, were Lancashire men. The lists
are: (1) John and Robert Crow of
Aberdeen, Hercules Durham, George
Macintosh, and Donald Robinson, sen.;
(2) Capt. John Bruce, — Charnley,
George Hodgson, Thomas Shuttleworth,
and John Winckley.

174. Tour through Great Britain (ed.
1738), iii, 183. The port was still in
1722–3 a member of Chester; Lancs.
and Ches. Rec. (Rec. Soc. Lancs. and
Ches.), ii, 340. A survey of it was made
in 1745–6; ibid. 349.

176. Stout, Autobiog. 67. Probably it
was at the east end of Damside, where a
passage preserved the name. In the plans
of 1778 and 1821 a sugar house is marked
close by, in St. Leonard's-gate. There
was a brewery in Moor Lane in 1778.

181. Pococke (1750) thought it 'pleasantly situated'; he saw the castle and
church, but would not admit the Wery
Wall to be Roman. Lancaster had 'of
late become a very thriving town, much
improved in trade and buildings.' The
salmon, for which the river was famous,
were salted for export and pickled for
home consumption; Dr. Pococke's Travels
(Camd. Soc.), i, 13, 14.

182. Pennant in 1769 called it 'a large
and well-built town'; he was pleased
with the castle and the custom house,
but the view from the churchyard, though
extensive, was not pleasing; Tour in
Scotland (ed. 1771), 220. In his tour of
1772 he took more notice of it, and says
'the inhabitants are also fortunate in
having some very ingenious cabinet-makers
settled here, who fabricate most excellent
and neat goods at remarkably cheap rates,
which they export to London and the
plantations. Mr. Gillow's warehouse of
these manufactures merits a visit.' Sailcloth and candles also were made. The
quays were fine, and he seems to have
been specially pleased with the shambles,
built in the form of a street, each butcher
having his shop with his name painted
over the door; ibid. (1776), i, 23–5.
The poet Gray visited the town in
1769 and notices the castle and the view.
He went out to Poulton and there heard
a pathetic story illustrating the danger of
crossing the sands; Gray, Poetical Works
(ed. 1814), i, 463–5.

183. An Act for improving the navigation
of the River Loyne and building a quay or
wharf, 1749 (23 Geo. II, cap. 12);
another was passed in 1789.

185. Thomas Clarkson gives the following account of his visit to the town in
1787: 'I determined now to go to
Lancaster to make some inquiries about
the slave trade there. I had a letter of
introduction to William Jepson, one of
the religious society of Quakers, for this
purpose. I found from him that though
there were slave merchants at Lancaster
they made their outfits at Liverpool as a
more convenient port. I learnt too, from
others, that the captain of the last vessel
which had sailed out of Lancaster to the
coast of Africa for slaves had taken off so
many of the slaves treacherously that any
other vessel known to come from it
would be cut off. There were only now
one or two superannuated captains living
in the place. Finding I could get no
oral testimony I was introduced into the
custom house. Here I looked over the
muster rolls of such slave vessels as had
formerly sailed from this port, and having
found that the loss of seamen was precisely in the same proportion as elsewhere,
I gave myself no further trouble, but left
the place'; Abolition of the African Slave
Trade, i, 410–11.

186. A notice of them occurs in the
Manch. Mercury of July 1758; note by
Mr. Hewitson. The site of the course
as shown on Yates and Billinge's map
1786 was on the Marsh.

187. A list of officials of that year is
supposed to have been printed locally;
Local Glean. Lancs. and Ches. i, 31. A
Collection of Hymns for Public Worship was
printed at Lancaster by Henry Walmsley
in 1780. A sermon by Mr. Housman
was printed in 1786; Local Glean. ii, 58.

190. Ibid. 113. Passage across the old
bridge was finally stopped in 1802, the
structure having long been in a dangerous
condition. The arch next Skerton was
then taken down for the convenience of
the shipbuilders; the others were afterwards destroyed or fell of themselves, the
last giving way in 1845. The foundations may still be seen at low water.

194. A code of 'Signals on the Steeple'
was printed in 1788 to give notice of
ships arriving in the river. In 1800 a
List of the Signals of each vessel belonging
to the port was published; the ship Hope,
e.g., showed an ensign at the main and
broad blue pendant at fore topgallant
masthead; the ensign was struck at the
outer buoy for five minutes, and four
guns were fired.

198. See the Account of Lancaster, published by C. Clark, 1807 and 1811. A
map of the town is prefixed.
There is an earlier plan, issued in 1778
by Stephen Mackreth; it has views of
church and castle. A small reproduction
of it is given in Churches, Castles, &c., of
North Lancs. 1880. A very useful plan
is that made by Jonathan Binns in 1821.
A small one was issued with Baines'
Lancs. Dir. 1826.

199. The first mail coach from London
is said to have arrived in 1786. See
articles in Lanc. Observer of Feb. 1886.

200. The Preston to Lancaster section
was opened in 1792, the extensions
northward in 1797 and 1819. The canal
in later times was leased and then sold to
the London and North-Western Railway
Co., and the company owning it was dissolved in 1885.

209. The Lancaster and Morecambe
section only was opened in 1848, that
east from Lancaster to Wennington in
1849 and to Clapham in 1850. The
doubling of the line was not completed
till 1889. Electric traction has been
adopted on the Lancaster-Morecambe
section.